Winning unity

BJP candidate Kuldip Parashar won by over 60 per cent of the vote, ending speculation over strife within the state unit of the party.

advertisement

SUBHASH MISHRA

September 24, 2009

ISSUE DATE: October 5, 2009

UPDATED: September 26, 2009 16:27 IST

Dehradun: The BJP's gamble of appointing Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' as the Uttarakhand chief minister seems to be paying off with a win in the recent Vikas Nagar by-election. BJP candidate Kuldip Parashar won by over 60 per cent of the vote, ending speculation over strife within the state unit of the party. The BJP was being seen in a rapid decline in Uttarakhand, losing popularity due to infighting and factionalism.

BJP candidate Kuldip Parashar

In the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had lost all five seats, which had triggered a fresh bout of infighting between supporters of then chief minister Bhuwan Chand Khanduri and his arch rival Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. Nishank had replaced Khanduri as the state's fifth chief minister on June 27. The by-poll win has established Pokhriyal as the unanimous leader of the two rival factions of the BJP, which had been divided vertically ever since the 2007 Assembly elections.

Get real-time alerts and all the news on your phone with the all-new India Today app. Download from